PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) - On a raw, dreary December day in Portland, things were about to get a lot brighter for one person inside Flatbread Pizza.

Waitress Emily Young, this is your lucky day.

34-year old Kentucky resident Seth Collins walked up to her after lunch and said "Today the awesome tip is for you and it's $500."

Collins is traveling across the country randomly surprising waiters and waitresses with $500 tips. He's doing it to honor a request in the will of his younger brother Aaron, who died unexpectedly last year.

"A $500 tip for a waiter or waitress, I mean who does that. That was something really unique that we wanted to do for him," Collins said.

After raising the initial $500 from friends and relatives word spread after he left the first tip. Then the money come pouring in, 50-thousand dollars.

So what is Emily Young planning with her holiday bonus?

"Going to do something fun with it but I also have to pay some bills. I know that's a boring answer but it's the truth," she said.

Collins says he has 11 more states to hit, including his next stop, New Hampshire.